I realize that it is now January 3rd, which might be too late to be writing about all those lucky New Year foods. However, I've really been enjoying reading about all the things that people prepared for themselves to ensure an auspicious New Year and thought I might share a couple that I particularly liked with you all.
The video you see above is from Chris and Michelle, who decided to make pork chops and sauerkraut to commemorate their New Year (an Italian tradition). They also made some delicious-looking mashed potatoes and homemade applesauce (I love it when people make their own applesauce, as it is just so easy and so much better than the stuff that comes out of the jar). The sauerkraut song that they used as background music is also totally infectious.
Over at the Perfect Pantry, Lydia posted a recipe from Arlo, one of her readers, for Boullets, which is a New Year's meatball soup, traditional to Arlo's Cree and Metis roots. It consists of a large pot of meatballs (the size depends entirely on you) in a broth. The post explains that there is no definitive recipe for this dish, that it changes depending on who is making it. It was always made in large quantities for the New Year, so that every visitor who stopped by could be welcomed and fed.
So we're in the final stretch of 2007 and it's time to start thinking about what you're going to eat on New Year's Day to set the tone for the rest of your year. In the South, it is considered good luck to eat black-eyed peas on New Year's Day because they are thought to symbolize wealth (because they look like little coins when cooked). They also swell when they are cooked, which is another sign of prosperity. Cabbage is also an auspicious item to eat on the new year, as it's leaves can also look like cash.
After the jump is my friend Jacqueline's recipe for a dish she calls Southern Cavier. It's a blend of canned black eyed peas, Rotel tomatoes, peppers, corn and cilantro and it just delicious. It's best eaten with tortilla chips or along side a great piece of corn bread. The first time she brought it to a potluck we all fell on it like we'd never eaten before and later begged for the recipe. It's a tasty way to get these auspicious legumes into your diet.
Back in the early 1970's my parents lived in Santa Cruz, CA. They had a neighbor who would make a yeasted lemon bread for prosperity and good luck in the new year. My mom remembers it as being small round loaves that were sweet but not cake-y, with raisins and chopped nuts. At the time she did get the recipe, but in last 35 years, the scrap of paper on which the recipe was written has walked away.
She has an itch to make this bread again this year, but after much googling and flipping through cookbooks, we haven't been able to find anything that seems quite right. We know that this bread was traditional to whatever area of the world that this neighbor's family originally came from, but again, we don't know for sure. So, does this New Year's bread ring any bells for any of you out there? If so, we'd love to see your recipe! (Or, if you just have a really good recipe for a yeasted lemon bread with fruit and nuts, that would work too).
I'd like to wish our Canadian readers a very happy Thanksgiving! For those of you not in the know, our Canadian friends celebrate their bountiful harvest each year on the second Monday of October. Other than the date, they celebrate in much the same way that we do down here in the United States, with an abundant spread of food and the resultant post-dinner coma. Enjoy!
Maine Fare- Celebrating the Bounty of Maine! Is a three day event held each year in the mid-coast area with tastings, book signings, cooking classes and demonstrations, great food and beverages of all kinds, and over thirty of the best chefs in the state getting together to show off the bounty of food in Maine. If you are a foodie, then this is the place to be the third weekend in September, Friday 9/14, Saturday 9/15, and Sunday 9/16/2007.
Originally this event started out as the 2005 Camden Food and Wine Festival but it grew so rapidly that the focus had to widen as well. Now Maine Fare is coordinated by Maine Festivals and Events, a nonprofit corporation dedicated to preserving, protecting, and sharing the cultural resources of Maine through a wide range of educational programs and special events.
I'm spending my Fourth of July doing what much of the country is doing. Going to the local small town parade, hooting and hollering a bit, and then a huge chicken BBQ. Finally when the day is done and it's getting dark, then it's time to watch the fireworks and go Ooooh and Aaaah as they light up the sky and make you jump from the sound of the explosions.
For me it's the Thomaston, ME celebration; a parade where thousands come with chairs and coolers to line the streets six deep for half a mile. After the parade many of the folks are off for home to tackle either the grill or lobster pot. The others wander over to the celebration food stalls for hot dogs, burgers, French fries, enormous onion rings or blooming onions, flavored shaved ices, and since this is Maine, the obligatory lobster or crab rolls.
I started with a nice "Lobtsa Roll" and my first blooming onion. The first was excellent, the latter was a nightmare. Well I learned my lesson. No more blooming onions for me. I would love to hear what everyone else is eating on this day of the celebration of our Independence and of summer time.
After the jump a pictorial essay of food and people on the Fourth of July.
Radishes are a nice, crunchy addition to salads, lending a peppery flavor and some color to whatever they're combined with. In Oaxaca, they take full advantage of the versatility of the vegetable by celebrating la Noche de Rabanos, or "the night of radishes," on December 23rd. The annual festival showcases the radish carvings, made from extremely large radishes (up to 10lbs). The carvings are often extremely elaborate, shaped as dancers, animals, village scenes and parts of folk stories, as well as religious images (like Nacimiento, the nativity scene).
The Radish festival began in the late 19th century when the mayor of Oaxaca "inaugurated the first exhibition of radish art." Now, tourists come in, "snapping pictures like radish paparazzi" and enjoying the carnival-like atmosphere. Cash and other prizes are given to the best pieces and lots of food and drinks (only some of which involve more radishes) are enjoyed.
Click here to see a flickr photo gallery of some of the really intricate radish entries from this year's festival.
I don't recall the 2nd amendment being written into the standard set of wedding vows, but then again, I'm also not from Texas, where this cake was prominently featured at a real wedding this past weekend. The gun was carved from a chocolate cake layer and stacked on top of the chocolate cake base, then decorated with rich frosting. The base is actually the shape of a target from the IPSC, a group that supports sport shooting and marksmanship.
Perhaps it's a less-than-common choice for a wedding cake, but all things considered, it's great that people are taking these celebratory cakes in new and unusual directions. After all, there is no reason why you have to have a plain white cake with flowers when you can have wedding cupcakes, snack food towers or anything that you (and your new spouse) really enjoy.
It looks like meat ice cream isn't the only tasty treat that zoo animals are getting this summer. The giant panda Xin Xin, who resides at the Wild Animal Rescue and Breeding Center in Xi'an, China, celebrated his first birthday this month with apples, watermelon and - of course - birthday cake. We have no doubt that the cake was made with panda-friendly ingredients, but it actually looks pretty good. And Xin Xin is certainly enjoying it.
He's not the only panda to get served birthday cake, though. Click past the jump for some more pictures of pandas with their cakes.
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